Eyeglass purse

ABSTRACT

A purse having a central compartment for storing eyeglasses when they are not being worn with additional compartments and zippered side pockets for storing other items and an adjustable strap, allowing the user to wear it.

BACKGROUND OF DISCLOSURE

People who wear eyeglasses intermittently, for example only for reading,are constantly putting on and removing their glasses. A significantproblem for many people in this situation is removing their eyeglasses,placing them somewhere, and then forgetting where the eyeglasses wereplaced, thus not being able to find them. Much time and effort isexpended searching for lost eyeglasses, not to mention the replacementcost for glasses that are never found. Additionally, eyeglasses may bebroken if they are merely placed in a pocket or placed where they areexposed to the risk of damage. Therefore, the need exists for aconvenient and compact way to store eyeglasses when they are not beingworn so that they are easily retrievable and protected from loss andbreakage.

Although there are presently cases available for eyeglasses, most lackmeans to be carried about on one's person, and thus are as susceptibleto loss as the glasses themselves. Furthermore, those eyeglass casesthat do provide means for the user to carry them about—for example abelt clip—only have a compartment for the eyeglasses, forcing the userto keep other items in an additional purse or bag.

SUMMARY OF DISCLOSURE

A novel compact purse stores eyeglasses when they are not being worn. Inaddition to providing a compartment to store eyeglasses, additionalcompartments are provided to store other items and the purse may becarried about on the user's person to prevent the purse and theeyeglasses from becoming lost or misplaced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other aspects of the invention will become moreapparent from the following description of specific embodiments thereofand the accompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of example onlyand not intending to be limiting, the principles of the invention. Inthe drawings:

FIG. 1 depicts a perspective view of the exterior of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 depicts the interior features of the present invention.

FIG. 3 depicts a perspective view of the exterior of an alternativeembodiment.

FIG. 4 depicts interior features of alternative embodiments.

FIG. 5 depicts an embodiment with interior pockets showing the verticalside closure opened.

FIG. 6 depicts a detailed view of the cord lock.

FIG. 7 depicts a detailed view of the strap retaining loop and cordlock.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DISCLOSURE

In one embodiment, shown generally in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, the purse 10has a front side 12 and a back side 14 defining an interior compartment16. The front side 12 and back side 14 are joined together along theirside edges and bottom edges, typically by stitching or other suitablemeans. Attached to the purse near the top of each side edge is a strap18. The strap length may be adjusted by means of a cord lock 40, or thestrap may be of fixed length.

The top edges of the front side 12 and the back side 14 are not joinedtogether providing a top opening 22 through which to access the interiorcompartment 16. Closing means 24, such as a snap, magnetic snap,hook-and-loop fastener (e.g. VELCRO®), zipper or other suitable closuremay be used to close the top opening 24 to prevent the contents of theinterior compartment 16 from falling out, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 4.In the alternative, no closing means need be provided such that theinterior compartment 16 remains open.

Within the interior compartment 16, and located below the top opening22, is a central compartment 26. The central compartment 26 consists offabric dividers that prevent the eyeglasses contained within frombecoming scratched.

The central compartment 26 also separates the interior compartment 16into the front interior compartment 16 a, the central compartment 26,and the rear interior compartment 16 b. Thus, while the eyeglasses arestored in the central compartment 26, the front and rear interiorcompartments 16 a and 16 b provide additional space to store otheritems.

A vertical side closure 28, such as a zipper or other suitable closure,may be provided along one of the pairs of side edges of the front side12 and back side 14 instead of permanently joining those side edges. Thevertical zipper 28 or other closure provides access to two interiorpockets 30, 32. As shown in FIG. 5, the liner of the interiorcompartment 16 acts as a divider for the two pockets and separates theinterior pockets 30, 32 from the interior compartment 16.

In one embodiment, the strap 18 is typically about 44 inches long.However, it is understood that the strap may vary in length. In anotherembodiment, the strap 18 is of adjustable length. A cord lock 40 isprovided to allow the user to adjust the strap to a desired length bypulling the strap 18 through said cord lock 40.

As shown in FIG. 6, the cord lock 40, has a body 42, a plunger 44, and aspring 46. The body 42 has a cavity into which the spring 46 and theplunger 44 are placed. Through the body are a first body aperture 48,and a second body aperture 50. Through the plunger, and corresponding tothe body apertures are a first plunger aperture 52, and a second plungeraperture 54.

The spring 46 provides an upward force on the plunger 44. A downwardforce is applied to the plunger 44 until the body apertures 48, 50 andthe plunger apertures 52, 54 are aligned. The strap 18 is then fedthrough the apertures in a serpentine manner, as shown in FIG. 6.Releasing the downward force on the plunger 44 allows the spring 46 tomove the plunger 44 upward, pinching the strap 18 between the body 42and the plunger 44, thus securing the strap 18 in place.

To shorten the strap 18, the user presses down on the plunger 44 in thecord lock 40 releasing the strap 18. The user then pulls the strap 18through the cord lock 40 until the strap 18 is of the desired length.Finally, the user releases the plunger 44 securing the strap 18 at thedesired length.

In one embodiment, shown in FIG. 7, a strap retaining loop 60 isprovided within the interior compartment 16. The strap retaining loop 60is attached within the interior compartment 16 by means of stitching orby other suitable means. In this embodiment, the cord lock 40 is movedadjacent to the point where the strap 18 is connected to the purse 10.The strap 18 is fed through the cord lock 40 and then through the strapretaining loop 60. The cord lock 40 is thus positioned within theinterior compartment 16. The advantage to this embodiment is that thestrap 18 may be shortened by pulling it through the cord lock 40 and theextra slack from the shortened strap 18 may be neatly stored within theinterior compartment 16 of the purse 10.

The purse 10 may be made of any suitable material to provide flexibilityand protection. For example, the purse may be made of fabric, leather,plastic, vinyl, rubber, etc. Also, the purse 10 may be decorated bypainting, beading embroidery, silk-screening, or other ornamentaldevices.

The purse 10 may be of any suitable size or shape provides that a pairof eyeglasses can be contained within. One embodiment of the purse isgenerally rectangular in shape with dimensions of about 10 centimetersby about 18 centimeters. This is generally a sufficient size to allowstorage of typical eyeglasses. However, it should be clear that thepurse described herein may have alternative embodiments that are oval,circular, or other geometric shape. It should be further understood thatthe dimensions are typical and the purse 10 may be larger or smaller,provided that eyeglasses can fit within.

1. A purse comprising: a front side; a back side; an interiorcompartment defined by the space between the front side and the backside which has a top opening at the unjoined top edges of the front sideand the back side; at least two interior pockets accessible through aside opening defined by unjoined side edges of the front side and backside, wherein said opening has a closure; and a strap.
 2. The purse ofclaim 1 further comprising a closure for said top opening.
 3. The purseof claim 2 wherein said closure is a hook-and-loop fastener.
 4. Thepurse of claim 2 wherein said closure is a magnetic snap.
 5. The purseof claim 2 wherein said closure is a mechanical snap.
 6. The purse ofclaim 1 further comprising a central compartment having fabric dividers,located within the interior compartment.
 7. The purse of claim 1 furthercomprising a vertical closure wherein said vertical closure closes saidside opening providing access to said interior pockets.
 8. The purse ofclaim 7 wherein said closure is a zipper.
 9. The purse of claim 1further comprising a movable cord lock located on the strap to allowadjustment of the strap length.
 10. The purse of claim 9 furthercomprising a strap retaining loop located within said interiorcompartment.
 11. A method of storing eyeglasses comprising the steps of:opening the purse of claim 1; placing eyeglasses within a centralcompartment; and closing the purse.
 12. The method of storing eyeglassesof claim 11 further comprising the step of fastening a closure on saidpurse.